


Heroes

by romuluswasadick



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Comfort, Dancing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First War with Voldemort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentioned James Potter, Mentioned Lily Evans Potter, Mentioned Peter Pettigrew, Mentioned Regulus Black, One Shot, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:16:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29780184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romuluswasadick/pseuds/romuluswasadick
Summary: Remus and Sirius have a brief interlude of time together in the midst of the war. Sirius is leaving in the morning. There's a traitor in the midst and nothing feels guaranteed anymore.Set to Heroes by David Bowie
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> One shot to tide you over till I get the next chapter of The Fair and the Very Few posted! Got the idea for this a few months ago when I was listening to the 1999 remaster of Heroes- it sounded like it fit perfectly to these two during the first war. It's a bit of a sad read but I hope you enjoy!

Sirius was set to leave for a mission in the early hours of the morning. He and Gideon Prewett had been assigned long-term surveillance of an area with four instances of suspected Death Eater activity in the past two weeks. He wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest, especially after the past two weeks of near constant fighting with Remus. There had been whispers of a turncoat in the Order, and the tension between the Marauders could have been cut with a knife. 

James was adamant that it wasn't any of them- after all, they had known each other for nine years now. None of them could turn on each other at this point. Pete always sat in silence when they discussed it, picking at hangnails and biting on his already chapped lips. He claimed he didn't like thinking about the darker parts of the war, but honestly, what aspect of the war is light? Sirius didn't know what to think. He was raised in a household that instilled a deadly fear of treason from the day he could understand what it meant. He couldn't imagine any of his friends being the traitor, but he was beyond terrified of the threat it left hanging over them. Remus was the most logical, of course, and took note of how everyone had reacted to the news. 

He didn't suspect Sirius- he knew just how much he loathed his family and everything they (and Voldemort, by association) stood for. He couldn't suspect James or Lily in a million years, not when they were in hiding from Voldemort with their newborn son. And Peter... Well, Remus couldn't really remember the last time he had seen Peter outside of Order meetings. It was odd, yes, but it wasn't as if Remus went anywhere other than Order meetings and missions either. Nobody exactly had the time for outings in Diagon Alley anymore. 

Sirius watched as Remus paced across the worn floor of their flat, idly stirring the tea he had never got to drinking. It was surely cold now, and the sugar cubes he had put in had settled in a grainy pool at the bottom of the cup. He had never been a pacer before the war, Sirius thought- Remus had once been partial to sitting at his desk and shaking his legs till the ink jars and quills in front of him rattled with the movement. The creaking of the floor was beginning to feel infuriating, though, so Sirius walked over to their record player in the corner. He flicked through their records, pondering each one carefully. Queen was good, but felt too upbeat considering the stress they'd been dealing with. Led Zeppelin they rarely listened to to begin with; The Ramones had been annoying Remus to no end lately. At the end of their collection sat a dusty David Bowie record- Heroes. 

Remus's pacing paused when he saw Sirius placing a record onto the player, lifting the arm to somewhere in the middle. The sound crackled with the end of Joe the Lion, and soon enough the beginning of Heroes was drafting through the room. Sirius walked over to Remus with an hand extended; he took it and allowed himself to be guided to the worn carpet of the living area. Their other hands joined as they pulled each other close in a flimsy excuse of a slow dance. 

_I, I will be king_

_And you, you will be queen_

"We'll be alright," Sirius murmured as he pulled Remus closer for a hug, breathing in the bittersweet scent of his cologne. He couldn't remember the last time they had taken a moment for themselves like this. "We'll be alright as long as we've got each other, y'know? I'll always have you, Rem." 

Remus smiled sadly as they moved apart briefly, twisting their steps as they moved across the carpet. "I'll always have you, Sirius." 

_Though nothing will drive them away_

_We can beat them just for one day_

_We can be heroes just for one day_

The last mission they had been allowed to go on together had ended badly. One moment Remus was locked in spells with a masked Death Eater, casting shield after shield in the face of green lightning bolts of malicious magic. The next he had heard Sirius shout from somewhere behind him, but it was cut short. When Remus turned around he couldn't find him, he couldn't see him amongst the scattered debris of what had once been the garden of a deserted Death Eater hideout. He still didn't know what spell had Sirius that day, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. There had been so much blood. 

_And you, you can be mean_

_And I, I'll drink all the time_

_'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact_

_Yes, we're lovers, and that is that_

Sirius had often turned to alcohol in the face of his problems in school, and the bad habit had followed him into the following years. He alternated between Muggle liquor and Firewhiskey while he waited for Remus to return from his secret missions. He always felt awful in the morning, but it was well worth it for the numb feeling of floating in the misty sea of inebriation the nights prior. There was a time when Sirius went to James and Lily on these nights, but since they had gone into hiding it was no longer an option. So he turned to his alcohol and waited anxiously for Remus's safe returns. 

_Though nothing will keep us together_

_We could steal time just for one day_

_We can be heroes forever and ever_

_What d'you say?_

He could remember their first Order meeting, and how he had been left aching at the thought of there being no more sureness to coming back to a warm flat with a steaming mug of tea waiting for him in Remus's hand. It wasn't fair. Life isn't fair, of course, and Sirius knew that. He'd had his fair share of curve balls thrown his way and hands that once cradled his young face turned viciously in a slap. Why could he not have this one thing that brought him the most joy in his life? Why could he not live the life his younger self had so yearned for? 

_I, I wish you could swim_

_Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim_

_Though nothing, nothing will keep us together_

_We can beat them forever and ever_

_Oh, we can be heroes just for one day_

The smile on Remus's face was no longer forced. It was silly that half-heartedly dancing in the middle of his messy flat could raise his spirits so quickly, but the look of simple adoration on Sirius's face made his heart soar. They spun again, and Remus pulled him close after they reached the furthest point. Sirius was resting his chin on Remus's shoulder now, his head angled downward. Despite the level of ease and comfort their dance brought, the weight of Sirius leaving the following morning weighed heavy upon them. What more would it take to end the damned war? What more could it take from them, if it had already killed Dorcas and countless others of their friends? How much longer could they play at heroes and saviors? 

_I, I can remember (I remember)_

_Standing by the wall (By the wall)_

_And the guns shot above our heads (Over our heads)_

_And we kissed as though nothing could fall (Nothing could fall)_

After Sirius had fallen on their last mission, he blacked out for a moment. He remembered shouting for Gideon to look out and casting a shield spell in front of him just in time for the green light to ricochet across it and into the air around him. He hadn't even seen the jet of red flying towards him before it was too late. Sirius had opened his eyes to see the evening sky above him as a throbbing pain encompassed his left leg. He was reaching for it to see what the cause was but there was hands pulling his away. His jeans felt sticky as he grasped desperately at them. He had felt lightheaded suddenly, and the sounds of Remus and Marlene bickering above him faded in and out of focus. 

"I can't leave him here! He..." The pain reached a crescendo and Sirius's ears rang with the intensity of it while Remus shouted above him. "... have to get back to headquarters." 

"'m fine," Sirius had tried to say, searching for anything to look at through hazy eyes. He once again reached for his leg but a familiar hand grabbed his tight. He felt lips press against the back of his hand as it was pulled away and a sudden pressure on his leg. 

"... have to get him out of here... You're.... Liability, Remus." Marlene was speaking now, her voice urgent. "Neither of you... safe here right now." 

They bickered back and forth about who would be better to Apparate with Sirius back to their headquarters, but Remus was steadfastly refusing to leave his side. The last thing Sirius had remembered before falling unconscious was the soft press of Remus's lips on his. 

_And the shame was on the other side_

_Oh, we can beat them forever and ever_

_Then we could be heroes just for one day_

Their dance had slowed to a gentle swaying in each other's arms, bodies pressed as close as they could be. The sharp pain of reality had settled into a corner of Remus's mind, and he was grateful to be able to focus solely on just being with Sirius in this moment. He rested his head upon the top of his partner's and closed his eyes, breathing in the comforting scent of his shampoo as deep as he could manage. There was no telling when they'd have a moment like this next and he planned to soak up as much of it as he could. 

Just the night before they had been bickering about Regulus and his involvement in the Death Eaters. Sirius had been adamant that he had seen him on his last reconnaissance assignment, arguing steadfastly that if he could just talk to him he could change his mind. He had never wanted to be a Death Eater, Remus knew this, but it had been years since the Black brothers had last seen each other and the potential fallout of it happening now was too much to risk. Even when they had been in school, Regulus had seemed reluctant to partake in any of the senseless attacks on muggleborn students and their sympathizers- but it was still too much of a risk. Sirius refused to believe it, he knew his brother must detest the things he was doing now, that he must be as ashamed as Sirius that things had ended where they did. 

The argument was forgotten as soon as it had exploded, and was now fading into memories locked away. There was no time to dwindle in the past when the present moments they had were so fleeting. 

_We can be heroes_

_We can be heroes_

_We can be heroes just for one day_

_We can be heroes_

"Do you think we'll win this, Remus?" Sirius asked quietly, the warmth of his breath washing back against his face against Remus's neck. "It feels like every fight we win is set back tenfold by the week's end." 

Remus was quiet for awhile. Sirius couldn't be sure what he was thinking, but he felt his jaw clench against the top of his head. He pulled back just enough to look up at his amber eyes, and his heart clenched at the guarded expression he saw. 

"We have to," He eventually said. He didn't sound sure of himself, and his voice was strained. His eyes were shining with gathering tears in the dim light of the setting sun. "If not for us, then for James, and Lily, and Pete. And everyone who will come after us. We have to, for them." 

_We're nothing, and nothing will help us_

_Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay_

_But we could be safer just for one day_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, just for one day_

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated and awarded with one emoji cookie!


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